Questions tagged [supernova]
Questions regarding stars which increase suddenly in energy output due to an explosion which ejected much of its mass.
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What would happen if someone had a telescope and watched Betelgeuse when it goes supernova?
Would that person go blind?
Neutrino detectors and the abundance of Neutrinos would detect the upcoming visible show about 3 hours before any visible signs, so there would be time to point certain ...
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1answer
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Comprehensible full manual for bolometric light curve reconstruction
Could anyone point me to some manual or tutorial, possibly step-by-step one, on reconstruction of (quasi-) bolometric light curve using UBVRI-photometry data?
Both links and names are fine for me.
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2answers
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Could two stars collide without a resultant explosion?
Are there any scenarios in which two stars could collide, and simply fuse without triggering a supernova. Maybe a mid-sized star slowly spiraling in together with a smaller star? It seems like any ...
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1answer
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Could population III stars develop directly into population I stars?
Hundreds of millions of years after the Big Bang, the very first stars began to form consisting of mostly hydrogen, a bit of helium, and maybe some lithium. These stars lacked any "metals" (elements ...
2
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2answers
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How much iron does a star fuse before going supernova? [duplicate]
I understand stars fuse atoms into heavier and heavier elements. When the star starts to fuse iron, the amount of energy released is less than the amount of energy it to takes to fuse the atoms. This ...
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1answer
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Finding the SN explosion time by t-square fitting
In a couple of papers I've read that it's usual practice to fit early rise of supernova luminosity curve by $t^2$. Let me describe how I see it:
I take the early fast rising part of luminosity curve ...
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1answer
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Normalizing the supernova spectrum by photometry
I have a SN spectrum here (already reduced) that seems to have some artifacts. Professor tells me that I may have to normalize it using photometry.
As far as I understand, I just have to multiply it ...
3
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1answer
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Searches for dipole form of anisotropies (on luminosity distances) in the universe with type Ia supernovae
There are many articles like this one Testing the isotropy of the Universe by using the JLA compilation of type-Ia supernovae (PDF, arxiv.org) trying to search for a dipole effect in cosmology with ...
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2answers
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What is a type la supernova? [closed]
I’ve heard about them and know that they are used as standard candles, but what exactly are they? What makes them differ from other supernovae? Also, are they only special because of their use as ...
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1answer
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What does the word “shock cooling” mean in supernova physics?
I cannot understand the meaning of "shock cooling" which occurred in supernova.
And I saw the sentence like "Early photometry and spectroscopy reveal evidence of shock cooling of an extended helium-...
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1answer
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Why is there a Phillips relation?
I want to know the explanation of Phillips relation, the relation seen in type Ia supernovae(SN Ia with broader light curve is brighter). More Ni-56 implies a larger luminosity at peak but what about ...
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3answers
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Why type Ia supernova reaches its peak absolute magnitude(~ -19.3mag) at around 15-20 days after the explosion?
I'm not sure why type Ia supernova reaches its peak magnitude 15-20 days after the explosion. Is this luminosity generated only by the radioactive decay of nickel-56 to cobalt-56?(considering a half-...
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2answers
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Could an astronomical process create elements in the islands of stability?
I was reading about heavy elements recently, and I took note of the theorized islands of stability, and how some the elements involved are considerably heavier than anything we've been able to ...
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0answers
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Is the acceleration of the expansion of the universe a direct observation or an interpretation?
Is the acceleration of expansion we observe with supernovae direct or is this an interpretation according $\Lambda$CDM model ?
I mean what we observe is luminosity distance versus redshift, so to see ...
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2answers
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What happens when a star gets hit by a supernova?
This may sound like a strange question, but say that two stars are relatively next to one another in a binary star system, what would happen to one of the stars if the other went supernova? Would it ...
3
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1answer
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Star - Black Hole binary. Star core Collapses. Does the black hole immediately grow from neutrinos?
I was reading on how Type II Supernovae release as much as 99% of their energy as neutrinos. So I was thinking: suppose there was a large star and black hole binary system, but the two were not close ...
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1answer
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Secondary maximum in SNIa lightcurves for near infrared
Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) are thermonuclear supernovae that generates a lot of Nickel 56 which emits photons while disintegrating.
How is the secondary maximum in lightcurves for reddish bands (see ...
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2answers
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Is there a name for the star/supernova hypothesized to have been a precursor to the Solar System?
I found an article suggesting a supernova injected debris which helped nudge the formation of the Solar System 4.5 billion years ago.
I couldn't find a name for this hypothetical star/supernova after ...
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1answer
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How do isolated binary compact systems survive their formational supernovae?
In a broad sense I'm trying to understand how a binary black hole or neutron star systems can form from isolated binary massive star systems (i.e., other than from migration within rich BH/NS clusters)...
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2answers
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Superluminous super nova output
I was reading about how powerful supernova were and found out there are even bigger supernovae also called hyper nova. A large explosion was discovered in 2016 I believe (or was it 2017). I would ...
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3answers
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Is there a possibility that a white dwarf can turn into a neutron star or a black hole?
I know that a white dwarf is mainly balanced by electron degeneracy pressure and that if it gains more than 1.4 solar masses from any source (such as a companion star or a collision), it explodes as a ...
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2answers
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Is a supernova powerful enough to destroy the other star in a binary system?
(This question was originally posted via World Building, but I was instructed to post it here)
https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/109457/is-a-supernova-powerful-to-destroy-the-other-...
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creations after supernovas [closed]
Why is it the some massive stars go supernovae and than either form a black hole, pulsar or a magnetar. All stars essentially go through the same process when they’re alive and burning through their ...
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2answers
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How many Supernovae have been Imaged in the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field?
The Hubble Ultra-Deep Field is an image showing about 10.000 galaxies:
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Image Credit: NASA
Consider Victor Buso's spectacular discovery of an early supernova in NGC 613 (named SN 2016gkg):
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Image ...
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2answers
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Does Gold really come from Supernovas? [duplicate]
Do we really know that the origin of gold was in a supernova explosion?
I am talking about the gold we find here on Earth.
So then how are we sure that Gold actually came from these explosions. Did ...
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1answer
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Mass-magnitude relation of evolved stars
In short: what mass is appropriate for absolute magnitude $M_V \sim -7$?
Some context: I'm processing the observational data (supernova light curve) and curve fitting gives me about $0.4M_\bigodot$ ...
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How is Phosphorus made in in stars? [duplicate]
What elements are required to fuse into phosphorus in a star. Can someone give me a step by step process please e.g
4 hydrogen nuclei fuse into one helium nuclei and then 3 helium nuclei
fuse ...
5
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1answer
135 views
Does this amateur observation hold a record even including robotic searches for supernovae?
The new paper in Nature A surge of light at the birth of a supernova (doi:10.1038/nature25151) describes the fortuitous capture of a supernova "Shock Breakout" - the earliest rise in brightness of a ...
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0answers
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Core collapse supernova vs Neutron Star
I am reading about massive stars and their final consequences. what I understood is massive stars after throwing out their outer envelop with masses > 1.4 solar Mass turn into neutron stars. But I ...
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Doubt about star formation [duplicate]
When a star runs out of hydrogen, it either goes through supernova or forms white dwarf and planetary nebula. So there should not be much hydrogen left to form a new star in the nebula. So how new ...
5
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1answer
360 views
Supernova in Hertzsprung–Russell diagram
If you could put a supernova in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Where would it be? Would it be near the white dwarfs or near the super giants?
I know that a supernova isn't a star but rather the ...
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1answer
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Is there any phenomenon where a supernova doesn't anything leave behind?
I have been researching this on google, and I think there is a process. What is this process called? I have forgotten.
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1answer
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How to visually tell the difference between a planetary nebula and a supernova remnant?
If we see a nebula by looking through a powerful telescope, how can we tell whether we are looking at the remnant of a supernova or at a planetary nebula?
Thanks
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1answer
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Mechanics of Supernovae
Where does the energy from a supernova come from?
My understanding is that the iron core collapses into a large ball of neutrons - is that effectively a star-sized nuclear explosion? What is the ...
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1answer
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Delay between neutrino pulse and visible flash of supernova
If you were orbiting a star undergoing a core-collapse supernova, what would be the delay between the neutrino pulse from the collapse and the first visible effects on the surface? Basically, I'm ...
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1answer
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Identifying cataclysmic stellar phenomena
Cataclysms such as novas, kilonovas, supernova, magnetars, quasars, gamma ray bursts are rarely visible from Earth. Under what conditions (such as distance, day vs. night, naked eye vs. level of ...
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1answer
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Does a kilonova leave a high mass remnant?
My understanding of Type Ia supernovae is that they are expected, in most cases, to destroy the white dwarf(s) that went in to them, leaving behind no high density remnants (i.e. no white dwarf, ...
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0answers
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Do mixed type remnant collisions produce anything interesting?
The recent detection of a binary neutron star inspiraling and colliding raises an interesting question in my mind. Type Ia supernovae are believed to be caused by white dwarf/regular star pairs and/or ...
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1answer
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Is a kilonova bigger than a supernova?
My question is straight forward. Is a kilonova bigger than a supernova?
Update
How does a kilonova differ from a nova in terms of...
luminosity
duration
energy
volume of space occupied by the ...
5
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1answer
129 views
How does a planet lose mass to its host star?
How do bodies like WASP-12b lose mass to its central body? The process is never really explained in popular media, instead showing visualisations of a thin veil of gas being "sucked" in a rather ...
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2answers
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Is there any cosmological evidence that neutrinos travel at a speed other than c?
I've been looking into neutrinos. One thing I'm puzzled about is how fast they travel.
See the Wikipedia SN1987A article where you can read this: “approximately two to three hours before the visible ...
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4answers
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Is there an example of a star that is already dead, but can still be seen on earth?
While looking up at the stars I wondered, what are the odds that some of them are already dead. I did some research and found a very interesting article here. It states that the odds are rather small, ...
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1answer
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Supposed SN 1006 was only 4 lightyears away what would the blasts impact be like on earth?
One of the commenters on my answer to https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/a/86733/3460 questions that the blast would even have a noticeable impact if that supernova was in Alpha Centauri. And ...
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3answers
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Why do medium stars collapse to form supernovae while big stars collapse to form black holes?
I understand that a star runs out of fuel slowly and gradually by fusing heavier and heavier particles (because of pressure by gravity) until the last heaviest particle is not able to fuse at the core ...
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0answers
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Was the Crab Nebula to the southeast of Zeta Tauri 1,000 years ago?
I've been reading about SN 1054 and how most professional investigators believe that it is the Crab Nebula today. But the wiki article has this to say:
The location of the guest star as "to the ...
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2answers
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What does it mean 'black holes is created when center of a very massive star collapses in upon itself'?
I read many times that black holes is created when center of a very massive star collapses in upon itself but what does it mean ? Does weight of center of massive star increase so much that itself can'...
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2answers
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Why does fusing iron in a stellar core use more energy than it releases [duplicate]
I know larger stars can fuse heavier and heavier elements up to iron where it stops because fusing iron requires more energy than it releases, causing a collapse and supernova.
Why does fusing iron ...
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1answer
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Why do type Ia supernovas produce more iron than type II
My course book on astronomy states the following.
Older stars seem have higher oxygen abundances than iron. Explanation is that back in the days when these older stars were being formed type II ...
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2answers
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Can you recommend a book about big bang nucleosynthesis and chemical abundances?
I am interested in learning about big bang nucleosynthesis, nuclear fusion up to iron in stellar cores and beyond iron in supernovas, and into the lithium problem (galactic abundance anomoly for ...
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3answers
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What exactly is it that is being magnified 50 times in this gravitational lensing observation?
In the Los Angeles Times news item Scientists get a rare view of a type Ia supernova magnified 50 times what exactly is magnified 50 times?
This supernova is really very far away. Is it somehow ...
